Sea lion found wandering at Port of LA released in San Pedro waters

An ailing sea lion wandering around Navy Way at the busy Port of Los Angeles was released back into the ocean after spending more than a month being rehabilitated at the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles located in San Pedro. Staff from the center gathered at White Point.Royal Palms County Beach in San Pedro Thursday morning Sept. 6, 2018 to release the sea lion.
Photo By Chuck Bennett

It was homecoming day Thursday for a sea lion that was found ailing and wandering the streets of Terminal Island earlier this summer.

Rocking his wheeled crate as it sat confined on the rocky shore of White Point/Royal Palms Beach, the some 250-pound sea lion wasted no time charging toward the breaking surf, barking all the way to the water’s edge before plunging in.

Within minutes, he was out into the waves, porpoising and diving for fish.

“Look at that, that is amazing,” said Chris Moore of Long Beach, who got to witness the release by chance while he was visiting the beach.

“I’m the luckiest guy,” said Moore. “Look at him. He feels good.”

It was “touch and go” for a while as the sea lion recovered at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, said Veterinarian Lauren Palmer.

An ailing sea lion wandering around Navy Way at the busy Port of Los Angeles was released back into the ocean after spending more than a month being rehabilitated at the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles located in San Pedro. Staff from the center gathered at White Point.Royal Palms County Beach in San Pedro Thursday morning Sept. 6, 2018 to release the sea lion.<br />Photo By Chuck Bennett

Longshoreman Carlos Gutierrez, 52, had just gotten off work when he spotted the animal that appeared disoriented and was in danger being so close to traffic.

He called for help and Peter Wallerstein, who has made a 30-plus year career out of rescuing stranded and distressed marine life along the Southern California coast, arrived.

Wallerstein, who was on hand for Thursday’s release, said it took him about 15 minutes to finally “hoop” the animal which put up a struggle.

“It took about three times,” he said. “It was pretty intense.”

When he reached the Marine Mammal Care Center, the sea lion was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. He also had a respiratory ailment, Palmer said, and was lethargic.

Palmer said they’d hoped he would gain more weight during his stay but added that he began to perk up in the past couple weeks and they decided it was a good time to send him back out.

The center, established in 1992 on the former Fort MacArthur property in Angele’s Gate Park in San Pedro, It is the only rehabilitation hospital in Los Angeles for seals and sea lions stranded on beaches from Malibu to Seal Beach due to illness, injury or malnutrition.

When animals recover, they are released back into the wild. Those deemed unable to survive in those conditions are placed in protected environments where they can live out their lives.

Both Wallerstein and Palmer said his chances of survival for this sea lion were fairly good, though there are never any guarantees.

“What he has going for him is he’s an older animal,” Palmer said, noting one of the tagged sea lions they released was recently spotted off the shores of Humbolt. “A lot of them make it to old age. We do what we can.”